Women Supporting Women in Business, Sports, Equality and Life

Leadership

As my son went off to volunteer at the Samaritan Center Sunday to feed the needy men, women and children of Syracuse I said to him, “Make sure your perform your service with your eyes and heart wide open.” He said, “What do you mean?” and I said, “Don’t miss the opportunity to witness and understand the contribution you are making today by paying special attention to the people you are helping and how your gift of time and service will make a difference in their lives today.”

I have always felt entrepreneurship allows me and other businesswomen the opportunity to provide a service or product that makes a positive difference in the lives of our clients. Of course besides making an impact comes our desire to make money, create an economic impact, challenge ourselves to take risks and achieve our biggest dreams. But no matter how vital it is to create a sustainable and profitable business, it is important we perform our business with “our eyes and heart wide open” too.
We need to be constantly aware to ensure our staff performs within our customer service guidelines. We must observe mistakes and fix them. We must reach out to our major clients frequently. We have to visualize and attract new customers. At the same time we are seeing and leading with the head, we need to make decisions from the heart. We shouldn’t focus all our attention on the bottom line that we forget why we are in business. We shouldn’t maintain old rigid policies if a new improved outlook can make more customers happy. We can’t ignore criticism from our staff or customers because they might provide us with great insight and incentive for change.Today is the day to lead with your eyes and heart wide open. I bet if you do you will leave work with more clarity about where you are, what changes you might need to make, and the important contributions you are making every day that positively impact the community.

Today’s blog is meant to have you pause for a moment and look at your business right now with your eyes and heart wide open. What do you see? What do you feel? Are you making a positive difference in the lives of your clients? Your staff? Your bottom line? Are you witnessing any negative circumstances you have been ignoring, causing stress or creating havoc? Is it time to really see the problem?

Tracey,
Your instruction to your son is very important. Your son went to help this people with his head up knowing exactly what he was doing and who he was dealing with. Now he knows he can inspire people even more. Thanks a lot.
Hida Pessie Piersma

There are so many people to help in the world as you know through your own efforts to support people in Uganda. Thank you for your note and best of luck with your personal and professional endeavors to “change the world.”